Anker was kind enough to provide me with a sample of their PowerExpand Direct 7-in-2 USB-C PD Media Hub to test and review. Below are my thoughts after using it with my 2017 15" MacBook Pro for a few days.
First impressions
When I first took the hub out of the packaging, my initial impression was that it’s smaller than I expected. The marketing photos for the hub made it seem larger than it is, but in the hand it’s nice and compact and easily fits in the pockets in my bag. It also eased my original concerns about my expensive laptop supporting the weight of a big heavy USB hub using only Thunderbolt ports.
My second takeaway was just how good the build quality is. Anker did a fantastic job with the quality of the aluminum frame of this hub, and the port cutouts are up to Apple’s level of precision. It genuinely looks and feels like it was made for a MacBook Pro. And for those with a laptop in Space Gray, I compared the two and the color is very similar. It’s not perfect, but I don’t think most people would notice a difference without close inspection.
Using the hub
After plugging in the hub to my 15” MacBook Pro, the rest of my concerns about the size and weight disappeared. The hub doesn’t sag like I thought it might, and even with multiple devices plugged in the Thunderbolt ports support the weight without any trouble. The power indicator next to the Thunderbolt port lights up whenever the hub is plugged in though, which is a bit strange. I would have expected the light to only come on when connected to power, but since I never see it while using my laptop I don’t consider it a problem.
The next thing I noticed was just how convenient it is to have pass-through charging. While I can easily live with plugging in power and a USB hub separately, only needing to plug in a single device when “docking” at my desk was a nice change. I was also happy to see that charging didn’t cause the hub to warm up, which means the power is transferring into the laptop efficiently. I did notice that the hub got warm whenever the laptop got warm, thanks to the aluminum frame picking up some of the heat. It never got uncomfortably warm though, and was never warmer than the laptop itself.
Another concern I had was whether the USB ports could handle the power demands of the devices I plug in. Another Anker hub I own doesn’t supply enough power to some devices, and I need to plug those directly into my MacBook Pro using an adapter. This hub on the other hand seems to handle everything I plugged into it, even with multiple devices connected simultaneously. USB speeds also seem to be just as fast as plugging a device in directly, easily taking advantage of the throughput of USB 3.0.
The rest of the ports work as expected. My 1080p monitor was detected immediately after plugging it into the HDMI port, and it worked every time I plugged the hub into my MacBook Pro without any issues. The memory card reader also works well, but since I don’t normally use memory cards I don’t have anything else to add. One thing to note is that the second USB-C port is just that - a USB-C port. It doesn’t support power passthrough or Thunderbolt 3 speeds. The last thing I tested was the hub’s ability to be plugged into the left or right sides of my laptop, which it passed. All of the Thunderbolt ports on the MacBook Pro are reversible and support charging, so it’s nice to see this working as expected.
My only major complaint in the connectivity department is the lack of an Ethernet port. I can understand why Anker decided to leave Ethernet out in favor of a slim design, but this means I need to have a second USB dongle or hub with Ethernet for the instances where wireless networking doesn’t cut it. This isn’t a deal breaker, but it’s definitely a negative for me.
Closing thoughts
Now that I’ve been using this hub for a few days I’m more attached to it than I would have expected going in. I didn’t think I would care that much (it’s a USB hub after all) but it has genuinely improved the experience of connecting my laptop to all of the devices at my desk. It’s also nice to be able to plug a USB device into the left (or right) side of my laptop again, and I definitely prefer it over a USB hub that attaches with a cable.
The hub does have one glaring problem though - if you don’t have a recent MacBook it’s not going to do anything for you. You’re not going to be able to plug this into any other laptop, so the market for a hub like this is going to be pretty limited. That being said, I think it will make a lot of MacBook owners happy who are looking for a convenient and well-made USB hub. If you’re in that group, Anker has you covered.
this is the main reason I still prefer Wired Ethernet network connectivity for my work laptop, and wireless is a secondary option and keep it enabled anyway.
